


Writers

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, Drama, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-12
Updated: 2008-04-12
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: "Every man is not a lover or potential lover.  Take some deep breaths and come back to reality."





	Writers

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Josh tapped on the door, walking into the office to see Sam laughing with someone he recognized but whose name he could not remember.

“Um hey.”

“Hi Josh. This is Sean Christensen, Communications Director for Senator Langley. You two might be acquainted.”

“Vaguely.” Josh extended his hand. “Are we working with the Senator on something?”

“No more than the usual. How are you, Josh?”

“OK.”

“We are going out for some drinks.” Sam said, studying his ex-lover’s face.

“Where?”

“Capital City Brewery.” Sean replied. “You wanna join us?”

Sam looked at Sean and so did Josh. Surely, he was joking.

“I um…I…”

“Josh spends enough time away from his girlfriend as is. We don’t want to keep him away any longer than we have to.”

“I understand.” Sean said wearing a jovial smile.

“This is not about Amy. I have work to do…its going to be a busy night.”

“I guess I should count myself lucky for dragging this one away. He is a workaholic.”

“I am dedicated.” Sam said.

“Yes, and you are also a workaholic Seaborn.”

Sam smiled at him and Josh felt his stomach drop.

“We better go.” Sam grabbed his jacket. “Have a nice evening Josh.”

“Yeah, you too.”

“Are you sure you won't join us?” Sean asked again. “A couple of drinks always make sleep just a bit better.”

“Josh and liquor don’t usually agree.” Sam said with a snicker. “He has work…we should leave him to it.”

“Alright. It's good to see you again. Maybe I will see you soon.”

“You plan on hanging around often?” the Deputy White House Chief of Staff asked, unable to hide the contempt in his voice.

“I am a busy guy, though my boss plans to campaign for your boss. I meant it in the figurative sense more than anything.”

“Thanks for the clarification.” Josh mumbled, watching the two of them walk away. They were laughing, Sam’s hand on the other man’s shoulder. How did they even know each other? Josh did not remember Sam ever mentioning him.

Sean was a popular person on Capitol Hill. He was handsome, intelligent, and no one could find a bad thing to say about him. That did not mean he was an easy target. He was not a tiger…predatory was not his style. Josh would liken him to a bear; strong, hardworking, loyal, and fierce if crosses. He wrote amazing speeches and press pieces, having left a position at Fordham University five years ago when the powerful Senator from New York called.

Michael Langley was on his second Senate term. He sat on the Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees. Once upon a time, he was the Minority Whip. He was powerful and Sean Christensen was powerful by default. He did not have an egotistical bone in his body as far as Josh knew. Quite laid back, he still knew the game inside and out. Josh could also admit to himself, though it pained him, that the man was Hollywood gorgeous.

His hair was thick, reddish brown, and he had the most amazing eyes. Their color was bluish grey, like the sky after a thunderstorm. He was a couple of inches shorter than Sam was but their physiques were similar. For some reason Josh knew Sean was an avid bicyclist. He raved about the many trails in Chevy Chase and Potomac outside of the capital.

Dammit, why was he even thinking about this? He had enough of his own work to do. Sam’s love life was none of his concern anyway. They were not together anymore; if he wanted to get cozy with someone else there was nothing Josh could do about it. He was happy with Amy.

***

“I think Sam might be seeing someone.”

“Well that makes one of us.”

“Hey, I'm seeing someone.”

“OK…two of us.”

“Who are you kidding? That makes pretty much all of us.”

Nora smirked as she looked up from the mountain of paperwork on her desk.

“What's shakin’ Lyman?”

“I think Sam might be seeing someone.” He repeated.

“So I've heard.”

“You heard? From who?”

“Whom?” she did the infamous Toby correction that often drove her out of her mind. “You silly, just a few seconds ago. Who is he seeing?”

“I don't know really.”

“If you don’t know then how do you even know?”

“Nora!”

“What? That is a viable question.”

“I am trying to talk to you.”

“No, you are trying to be cryptic with me. If you really need to talk, come in, close the door, and we will talk.”

“This place is probably bugged.” The Deputy Chief of Staff grumbled.

“Probably? C’mon Josh, obviously you need to get some things off your chest.”

He was leaning in her doorway. Actually, both hands gripped either side and he swung back and forth on the balls of his feet like a kid who ate too much candy. Josh looked down the hall to his right, his left, and his right again. Satisfied that no one was around, he stepped into Nora’s office. After closing the door, Josh stood in front of her desk. She looked up at him.

“Do you want to have a conversation or discipline me? Cuz I have to tell you a little discipline might be fun.”

He could not help but smile, the full-blown grin where those adorable dimples came out of their hiding place. The ice was broken.

“Sit down Joshua.”

He did, and for a while, there was silence.

“I think Sam might be seeing someone.”

“Seriously hon, we have got to get past that sentence. Who might this person be?”

Josh took a deep breath and swallowed hard. He knew that his relationship, former relationship with Sam, was the worst kept secret amongst the Bartlet Senior Staff. They never acknowledged it aloud and now that it was over, outing himself seemed rather silly.

“Josh?”

“Huh?”

“Anything you ever tell me is going to stay between us. You can trust my confidence.”

“I think Sam is attempting to make me jealous. You know, because I'm with Amy now.”

He exhaled the breath he was holding. It was done…Nora was the first person without a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement he’d ever told about Sam.

“I haven’t known Sam as long as I've known you but that does not seem like his M.O. He does not use people for amusement. Could it be that seeing Sam with someone else has made you jealous?”

“I am not jealous of Sean Christensen.” Josh waved away the notion. “Alright, he has a great body, everyone likes him, and I have not been able to get the image of him and Sam making love out of my head for over an hour. That is not jealousy.”

“Oh, well my bad. Sean Christensen huh?”

“Yeah.” Josh gave a sad nod. “I didn’t even know that he…Sam brought up the fact that I have a girlfriend when I saw them together.”

“You do. Look Josh, Sam has been on the Hill on and off for as long as you have. I’m sure he made many friends. Maybe he wanted to go out with a friend tonight and not think about the White House and personal shit. I think you are way off on a romance thing. At least tonight.”

“But the way they laughed Nora…Sam touched him…you think?”

“I do. Not every man is a lover or a potential lover. Take some deep breaths and come back to reality.”

“So if you saw your boyfriend with some random woman, all close and smiley, it wouldn’t jar you?” Josh asked.

“Firstly, my boyfriend knows many woman including his ex-wife and best friend, who are not the same woman by the way. Secondly, Sam is not your boyfriend. Whether Sean is a friend or more is none of your business unless he chooses to share it with you.”

“He is my best friend! He is supposed to share everything with me. I don’t want him getting hurt on some rebound thing. Not to mention there are things out there that can kill people. If Sam…I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Nora wanted to say he was already hurting but she bit her tongue. Josh knew what he did to Sam; she didn’t need to push his face in the dirt any further. She also wondered how they seamlessly moved between friends and lovers over their years together. The emotional trauma of a relationship like that could not be good for either one of them. As Josh sat in front of her, he seemed to come to an epiphany. Nora watched his face go from dark and troubled to regular old Josh.

“Yeah, nothing is going on with them. They are probably just friends…Sam has many friends. I may not know this one well but Sam has many friends. He is a magnificent person.”

“I know.”

“Thanks Nora.” Josh stood up. “I feel better now. I really do.” He nodded. He could not stop nodding and soon his brown eyes were worried again. Nora just waited for it; that train was never late. “But…”

“Don’t Josh. You will never know unless you ask and speculation will only drive you insane. Me too, I think.”

“Alright.”

He was resigned. She watched the wind leave his sails as he walked to the door.

“I have work to do but to hell with it. I need to go home.”

“That’s a good plan.”

“You should go too.”

“In a little while. I just want to get through this binder. I have a meeting in two days on alternatives to foreign oil dependence. Stephenson is going to be there.” Nora shuddered. “Oh but I have something for him. Wait until I sic Larry and Ed on him. Goodnight.”

“And what we talked about…?”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Thank you Nora. Goodnight.”

Josh left and Nora went back to her work. She smirked thinking how Toby worried news of their relationship could make waves. Josh and Sam would capsize the whole fragile boat.

***

Walking up to Sam’s condo, they were still laughing. The whole evening was that way; filled with memories of their time at Princeton. Sean was a junior when Sam’s freshman class came in. With a double major in Philosophy and English and a concentration in Linguistics, Sean worked for five years on his degree. They were in Circle K, Debate Panel, College Democrats, and the Nassau Weekly together.

Sam was enamored with the upperclassmen from the time they shook hands. All these years later, he realized that had not changed. Why had it taken so long for him reach out? It was probably Josh. He got jealous so easily and Sam did not want something harmless to turn into something destructive.

“This is me.”

Sean looked up and whistled.

“Fancy digs, young Seaborn.”

“Yeah right.”

“No really, this is a nice place.”

“Says the guy who lives at the Watergate Apartments.”

“Times have been good to me.” Sean replied.

“Come up with me.”

“Sam…”

“Yeah? I have that coffee you like. We can wax philosophical about the media, Sigmund Freud and the death penalty.”

“Coffee and the death penalty? That is certainly hard to resist.”

“I've got Nina Simone on vinyl.” Sam added, playfully tugging the end of Sean’s tie.

“Damn, now I cannot say no. C’mon.”

Sam smiled, pulling his house keys from his pocket. Sean’s hand grazed his in the elevator.

“You probably could’ve gotten me without Nina but it was a nice touch.”

“I'm nothing if not thorough.”

“I remember.”

***

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Josh came to Sam’s table in the mess hall a few days later. Spring was coming to the nation’s capital and it brought rain with it. It was a warm but dreary day as the Deputy Chief of Staff’s request to eat lunch with the Deputy Communications Director was granted.

“What are you having?” Josh asked.

“Chef’s salad with turkey. I see you opted for the Salisbury steak.”

“A sentimental favorite. You would think I had enough as a kid to turn me off forever but it takes me back to a special place whenever I eat it.”

“I know the feeling.” Sam replied.

For a while, they ate in silence. Sam didn’t know what to say and Josh wanted to say far too much.

“How are you, Sam?”

“Fine. Busy, but you know that. Looking forward to the weekend.”

“Do you have plans?”

“I doubt it. I'm sure you do, huh?”

“Why would you say that?”

“I am making conversation Josh. If you want small talk, I can give you small talk.”

“I don’t want small talk.” Josh replied.

“What do you want?”

“I don't know. I miss you.”

Sam sighed. He was the one who walked away and this was not fair.

“Doesn’t Amy keep your hands full these days?”

“You never miss an opportunity to take a potshot at her, do you? She didn’t do anything to you Sam.”

“You’re right, she didn’t. You did it Josh. Oh, just forget it. It’s over between us and I really don’t care what you two do together. I just noticed that she is pushy and rather mean to you but then I remembered you like that in your women. It’s not my job to protect you anymore. It should have never been my job in the first place.”

“She is not mean.”

“OK Josh.”

Sam went back to his salad. His phone buzzed on his hip so he grabbed it and looked at the display.

‘Are you getting off at a decent hour tonight?’—Sean

Sam smiled, texting a reply.

‘Yes. Looking very forward to some time off. Movie night?’—Sam

‘Definitely. My place or yours?’—Sean

‘Yours. I would like to spend some time in the lap of luxury.’—Sam

‘It’s not that fancy. Billy Wilder?’—Sean

‘Rob Reiner.’—Sam

‘When Harry Met Sally.’—Sean

‘How did you know?’—Sam

‘I know you. I think I owe you an apology for the other night Sam.’—Sean

“What are you doing?” Josh asked. They had not spoken in a few minutes…Sam was actually paying him no mind.

“Text messaging.”

“Is it him?”

“Who is him, Josh?”

“Sean Christensen. Are you sleeping with him now?”

“You are a son of a bitch. As if it is any of your business who I am involved with. Should I say yes just to make you seethe? Would you go home and give Amy your anger at me? This is why we only make small talk, Joshua. I am taking my salad back to my office. Have a nice day.”

Sam closed his plastic platter, gathered up his belongings, and headed back to the Communications bullpen. He closed the door to his office and went back to his cell phone.

‘What are you sorry for?’—Sam

‘I should have stayed and made love to you.’—Sean

‘You said you didn’t want a rebound romp.’—Sam

‘Nope. I wanted you though.’—Sean

‘I’ll see you tonight and will both accept and enjoy your apology.’—Sam

‘I don't know who is more of a smooth talker, you or me. Writers, huh?’—Sean

‘We will debate that later. Eight thirty?’—Sam

‘Yeah. Bye Sam.’—Sean

‘Bye.’—Sam

He hated to erase the messages but that was the world they lived in. God forbid his cell phone fell into the wrong hands. Sam only kept one, I should have stayed and made love to you, reading it repeatedly on a day that he could not wait to end.

***


End file.
